


No Work, All Play

by Shizukana2203



Series: Welcome to Watchtower High [6]
Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-10
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-13 02:30:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12973776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shizukana2203/pseuds/Shizukana2203





	No Work, All Play

J'onn was relaxing in the common room when Diana burst in, eyes and smile wide with glee.

"J'onn! There you are! Quick, come with me!"

Before he could protest, the green skinned meta found himself being dragged along by the wrist behind an excited female. She pulled him to the training room, practically shoving him through the door before running in herself. J'onn looked around, startled. The whole room was completely blacked out, the only light coming from strips running across the floor and catwalk. There was a maze spanning the length of the room, with large towers in the center and corners. Bruce was standing with a discheveled looking Vic, by one table, Hal and Wally by another and Diana moved to join Clark at a third. Wally caught his eye and grinned.

"Think manhunt, except instead getting caught means being beaten up and you're simultaneously hiding and seeking."

J'onn struggled to form words until Hal took pity on him.

"Okay, so all the teams have objectives they need to complete - get the two tokens from the corner towers and get out the maze via the central one. Thing is, no one knows where the tokens are - not even Vic, and he coded the thing. You can either go for the towers and hope you get lucky, or you can try and get rid of the competition. If your teammate gets taken out, you're still in play, but the game just got harder for you. The team who completes the objective first, or the team who stays in play the longest, wins."

Clark smiled, slapping the chestplate he was wearing.

"Each team gets armor sets for their members - chestplate, arm guards, helmet and leg guards. Now, be careful. They may protect you from bruises, but they can't protect you from broken bones if you don't control your strength."

J'onn nodded.

"So, whose team am I on?"

Diana grinned, the expression far too full of teeth for the green skinned teen's liking.

"You aren't. We're mixing it up slightly. Instead of two v two v two, we're going free-for-all. As soon as you're ready, we'll go."

Suddenly, Diana's excited look made so much sense. J'onn felt a smile pull at his own lips as he quickly donned the protective gear. He nodded to Bruce, who reached over and opened a cover on the control panel.

"Okay, listen up, because I'm only saying this once. Powers are limited to one power, chosen beforehand. So, Clark, Diana and Hal, that's flight; Wally, that's super speed; Vic, that's Connections; and for me, technomancy. J'onn, what power are you choosing?"

J'onn thought for a second.

"Intangibility."

"Alright. Usual rules of play - no serious maiming, no killing, no ganging up on any one player. Understand?"

There were nods from all sides.

"Then let the game begin."

Bruce flipped the switch that had been hidden under the cover, activating a short-range transportation that beamed them all down into the maze. J'onn immediately went intangible, running through walls in a race to get to the middle tower. He froze as he came across Clark, slipping back into a wall until he flew past. He then stood for a moment, torn between heading for the towers or following the other meta. Shaking his head, he started running again, back on track for the center tower.

A sudden flurry of movement had the teen standing stock still as Diana flew through his chest and slammed into the floor. Snarling, she got back up and threw herself at Bruce, who had been the one to throw her. J'onn attempted to slip away unnoticed, but the sudden appearance of a spike from the wall told him that backfired. Cursing, he ran toward the grappling pair, slipping an arm through Bruce's limbs and tapping the nerve clusters in his arms and legs just as the other meta did the same to Diana. They both slumped to the ground, unable to move, and were teleported away. The intercom came on suddenly, startling the green skinned meta.

"Diana Themyscera has been taken out. Bruce Wayne has been taken out. The first token has been found."

J'onn began running again, this time running to the closest corner tower.

_"If Vic has the token he can used his power to find the other one. If Wally has it, he'll come looking through the other towers for the second at super speed, which will give me a split second in which to take him out. If Clark has it, he'll likely just fly to the other towers. I'm fairly certain Hal will just do the same. If I hole up here, someone's bound to come looking at some point."_

The green skinned telepath reached the base of the tower and began quietly climbing the steps. To his surprise, the second token was waiting on the pedestal, with a bubble surrounding it.

_"So, I'm gonna assume if I break the bubble, the announcement goes out. Let's not do that."_

He slipped into a wall, waiting.

_"At least I know people have to come here now."_

\---

It was about two minutes later when the first steps came up the stairs.

Hal's brown hair peeked out from the staircase as he looked around the room, catching sight of the token almost immediately.

"Oh, nice. I found it."

The rest of his body emerged as he came up the last few steps onto the floor proper. So focused on the token was he that he didn't notice the green figure creeping up behind him until it was far too late. J'onn took him out the same way as Diana and Bruce and he disappeared, a rueful grin on his face.

"Hal Jordan has been taken out."

J'onn smirked slightly - the plan was working. He went to hide in the wall again when Clark suddenly flew in the window. Time seemed to slow as J'onn's eyes widened. Instinctively, he threw his arms out to protect himself, sinking his intangible fingers into the other's chest. Clark stiffened, gasping in shock as his inner organs were brushed and he collapsed, disappearing shortly after. J'onn felt the blood drain from his face as he realised what he had done.

"Shit! I didn't mean to--!"

"Clark Kent has been taken out."

Swearing loudly, J'onn ran a quick mental tally. Wally and Vic were still in play, and he could hear Wally coming. He braced himself and prepared to strike, throwing himself through Wally as he arrived at the top of the stairs. Just as predicted, Wally immediately froze and shuddered, allowing J'onn to disable his limbs.

"Aw man, not again!"

Wally disappeared just like the others, with the intercon announcing the takeout. To J'onn's surprise, the first token remained on the floor. Stooping to pick it up, J'onn grabbed the second token and began running. The central tower was brightly lit, glowing like a lamp drawing moths to its flame. The intangible meta ran through the maze walls, coming up to the entrance of the tower--

Only to find his way blocked by the only other remaining player. He tried to run past, only to find himself being thrown backwards.

"Can't let you do that."

J'onn scrambled to his feet, quickly trying to escape his attacker. Vic was fast and hit hard but his main skill came in playing dirty. He grabbed one of the tokens from J'onn then backed off, letting the other meta pick the next move. The pair circled for a few moments, watching each other closely. J'onn decided to try and goad Vic into action.

"Scared?"

"I've faced my demons head on. You're small fry compared to them. Nice taunt, you're getting better."

J'onn smirked slightly.

"Indeed. It's easy to taunt someone when you have a face - you tend to be listened to more."

Vic froze momentarily, just long enough to leave an opening. J'onn darted forward, arms reaching to sink into nerve clusters. Suddenly, Vic sprang into action. Sudden pain flared across the green skinned meta's shoulders and back and he was thrown onto the floor in an armlock. He could feel the faceless teen's heart through his skin, could hear it thundering in his chest. J'onn frowned. All his empathic senses were screaming at him that something was wrong with Vic. He felt afraid-- no, he felt terrified.

"Vic?"

A sudden spasm rippled through Vic's fingers before he jumped backward, releasing the green teen. J'onn slumped to the floor before shooting upright as he registered the other's footsteps running away and his lack of tokens. Before he could do anything, however, he was transported out of the maze and onto the viewing platform. Wally immediately walked over, slapping him on the back.

"Hey, congrats on second place! I don't think any of us could have done as well as you did. I don't blame ya for losing to Vic, he's a slippery bastard at the best of times."

J'onn flinched slightly as Clark approached, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Clark, I am so sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you. It was an instinctive move, one that should never have happened-- why are you laughing?"

True enough, Clark was quietly chuckling.

"J'onn, it's fine. You think that's the worst thing I've ever felt? I got hit over the head with a giant baseball bat by Hal once, woke up in the infirmary a few hours later. Your organ brush wasn't the largest deal. And, hey--" he placed a hand on J'onn's shoulder. "if you ever want help tamping down on instinctive fight or flight reactions, go ask Vic or Bruce. They're very experienced at that, Vic especially."

J'onn nodded. It was a good idea, and one he should definitely consider if he wanted to work well in a team with any of them. But right now, he just wanted to celebrate Vic's victory. A smile growing on the corner of his lips, he went to go and save the faceless teen from where he was being thrown up and down by Diana and Hal.


End file.
